RHEYDT, a town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine province, situated on the Niers, 19 M. W. of Dusseldorf, on the main line of railway to Aix-la-Chapelle, and at the junction of lines to Crefeld and Stolberg. Pop. (1905) 40,149. It has two Roman Catholic and two Evangelical churches, a handsome new town hall (1895), a gymnasium, and several technical schools. The principal products of its numerous factories are silk, cotton, woollen and mixed fabrics, velvet, iron goods, machinery, shoes, cables, soap and cigars. Dyeing and finishing, brewing and distilling, are also carried on. Rheydt is an ancient place, but its industrial importance is of very recent growth, and it only received municipal rights in 1856.
See Rheyter Chronik. Geschichte der Herrschaft and Stadt Rheydt (2 vols., Rheydt, 1897) ; and Strauss, Geschichte der Stadt Rheydt (Rheydt, 1897).